Summer
by Anti Inflammatory
Summary: Ray has to balance his relationship with Neela, his job and being a parent all at the same time. Its not as easy as it looks. How will he handle this? Note: There will be some Katey in this story


**Chapter 1**

Neela fumbled for the keys before unlocking the apartment doors, stepping**  
**inside she walked in. Didn't even glance at anything as she shut the door and**  
**walked straight to her room, she laid down on the bed. Closing her eyes after a**  
**horrendously grueling shift at Chicago's County General Hospital. All she wanted**  
**today was silence and peace, but as she lay there she realized the apartment was**  
**too silent. She sat up and listened, no tv, no sounds of Ray's band practicing**  
**in the living room. Was Ray not home? That would be a first if he didn't have a**  
**shift at County, his band was usually found playing a gig or camping out in the**  
**middle of the living room.**  
**The living room that generally looked like a tornado had ripped through it.****

Laying back down on the bed she closed her eyes, she knew that she would hafta**  
**attempt something for dinner, but she was just so tired. She had to be back on**  
**shift at County, for seven am rounds, she did NOT want to do that. The schedule**  
**used to be normal, but being short handed they were not just all over the place**  
**when it came to shifts.****

~*~*~****

Ray had arrived home after another fiasco date. He had hickeys all over his**  
**neck and he was incredibly exhausted. His long hours of work at the hospital**  
**left little room for a social life, but still he tried. He was pushing it,**  
**trying to cram so much in the short hours he had outside of work and still**  
**manage to get sleep, too. He walked in and fell on the couch, not even**  
**bothering to make it to his bed. He lay down on a soggy slice of pizza he had**  
**dropped on the couch the night before, but he didn't even care. His last**  
**thoughts were of Neela, his beautiful roommate, just before he fell asleep.**  
**

At Three Thirty am the alarm went off and Neela's arm reached out from the**  
**bed and she turned it off, opening her eyes slowly. She was still exhausted and**  
**pulled herself out of the bed. She stripped out of her clothes and then got in**  
**the shower, turning on the water. It was cold and she cursed softly the water**  
**heater probably needed fixing or looking at. She hated that, she took a**  
**shivering cold shower. Wrapping a towel around herself she started to get**  
**dressed, and looked down at her hand where the wedding ring still sat. She hadn't**  
**been able to take it off after Michael had died. It had been almost nine months**  
**since then. Biting her bottom lip softly she slowly removed the ring from her**  
**hand and opened the top drawer of her dresser and put the ring in it closing it.**  
**It was time to let go, she had been having a hard time since everything that had**  
**happened, but she couldn't hold on anymore it hurt too much and she just wanted**  
**the pain to go away.****

She finished getting dressed for work and then left her bedroom and saw that**  
**Ray's bedroom door was closed. She had never heard him come in last night but**  
**when she got to the living room she saw him passed out on the couch with pizza**  
**stuck to him.**  
**She shook her head and silently walked over to him carefully peeling the piece**  
**of pizza off of him. She didn't know why but she was used to cleaning up the**  
**place, doing his laundry for him and now that included peeling pizza off of him.**  
**Going quietly to the kitchen she tossed the moldy slice of pizza into the trash**  
**and then washed her hands with soap and sanitizer. Then she wiped them clean on**  
**the handle towel by the sink and then got the coffee brewing for the day.****

Rounds didn't start til seven so she usually got to work by 6:45, she was so**  
**tired today.**  
**She would love to have a day off soon.****

~*~*~****

Ray groaned, waking up. His body felt horrible, his muscles cramped, from**  
**having slept on the couch all night. He got up and went into the kitchen as**  
**the scent of coffee brewing had awakened him. "Hey," he said to Neela, seeing**  
**her preparing the coffee.****

"Coffee smells good," he told her with a big smile. That's when he realized**  
**she had removed her wedding ring. He knew she had been heartbroken over having**  
**lost Michael, so this was a really big step for her. He didn't want to make a**  
**big deal of it though, cause he was certain that if she wanted to talk to him**  
**about it, she would.****

"Guess what?" he said. "We'll be working together today." He found a couple**  
**of mugs in the cupboard and began pouring the cups of coffee. He'd really need**  
**a lot to keep him awake today. It was going to be a long ten hour shift. **  
**They had been working a great deal of hours, trying to make up for the lack of**  
**staff in the ER.****

Ray put sugar and cream in his coffee and took a seat at the table. He ran a**  
**hand through his disheveled hair. He then rubbed at his face, noticing pizza**  
**sauce was smeared on it. He shrugged, wondering how that had got there.****

~*~*~****

All Neela wanted to do was rush back into the bedroom and put the ring back on,**  
**she wanted to tell Michael how sorry she was for taking it off, but she forced**  
**herself not to.**  
**It was still so hard to believe he was gone, really gone. A tear slid down her**  
**cheek. When she heard Ray's voice she quickly wiped away the tears," Hey," she**  
**said turning to face him. She nodded," Yeah I figured coffee would be in order**  
**to start the day," she said forcing a smile on her face.****

"Great, sounds great," she said of them working together. When they had first**  
**started living together, they had tried for opposite shifts at work but**  
**inevitably ended up working a few of the same shifts and they became best**  
**friends and good team. If there was the rare occasion where they worked**  
**opposite shifts than they would sign out their remaining patients to each other**  
**at shift change.****

She picked up a towel dampening it and handed it to Ray across the table after**  
**he had sat down. So he could wipe off the pizza sauce smear.**  
**"Did you get enough sleep?" she asked worried seeing the state that he was in.**  
**She took her mug of coffee just adding sugar to it.****

~*~*~****

He accepted the moist towel, thanking her as he began to wash away the pizza**  
**sauce smear. "Enough?" he asked, shaking his head as her question began to**  
**sink in.****

"Ohhh yeah, I think I got enough sleep, but remind me never to sleep on the**  
**couch like that again. It made me hurt all over," he said as he raised the**  
**coffee mug to his lips and took a sip. It was prepared just the way he liked**  
**it, good and strong.****

"How about you? Did you have enough sleep?" he asked, noticing that her eyes**  
**were slightly red, from either lack of sleep or perhaps crying. He was very**  
**sensitive to her moods and he knew she had been missing Michael profusely. If**  
**only there was something that he could do to help ease her pain.****

~*~*~****

Neela sat down at the table across from Ray as she took a sip of her coffee,**  
**listening to him answer and talk.**  
**"I'll be sure to remind you," she promised with a smile." Yeah that couch serves**  
**a good purpose for movie night and watching tv, but not so much sleeping on it.**  
**" She carefully set her coffee mug down on the table," Hardly. Last night was**  
**kindda rough," she admitted," Usually I manage okay, but I don't know I just**  
**couldn't stop thinking about him last night. It was just a bad night," she said.****

She was quiet for a moment as she gazed down at the place where her wedding band**  
**used to sit.**  
**She lifted her head slowly," Ray, I just wanted to say Thank You. Everyone**  
**else...they just don't understand as much as they think they do. They try, but**  
**they just don't understand. They don't even do anything to help either, its just**  
**alot of If you need anything let me know. How are you feeling today, like they**  
**expect me to burst into tears in the middle of a trauma or something. Or Do you**  
**need to sit this one out. Even after I pushed you away and told you to leave me**  
**the hell alone, you still came back. I'm sorry I was so mean to you, I just...it**  
**was hard for me," she admitted.****

~*~*~****

Ray sat there quietly, taking in everything that Neela had said. "I'm glad I**  
**could be here for you, and I always will be. You've been through some really**  
**rough times lately... and it's okay," he said as he lay his hand on hers and**  
**gently squeezed it.****

"If you ever need to talk or even a shoulder to cry on... You know I am here,"**  
**he promised. He just wanted to see Neela smile again... really smile. She**  
**had been suffering far too long due to Michael's death, and Ray hated it. **  
**There was really nothing he could do or say to make it better. Grief was one**  
**of those things that no one could put a time-table on. As much as he wanted to**  
**make make things better for her, he was powerless.****

"I truly care about you, Neela," he said, meaning every word. He stood up,**  
**wrapping her in a big hug. He just held her tight for a long, long while.****

~*~*~****

As Neela stood she felt Ray wrap her in a hug and her arms automatically went**  
**around him hugging him back.**  
**She knew he cared and she was grateful for that," Thank you," she said softly.**  
**She rested her cheek against his chest. She knew there was bound to be some**  
**crying, but not before work. Because it was going to be a hard enough day as it**  
**was when people noticed she had removed the wedding band.****

County General's ER was known for his gossip, and nothing stayed a secret for**  
**long there.**  
**People would start speculating about why now, and if she had moved on and if**  
**that was the reason for her taking the band off. It was all really useless and**  
**stupid shit, but it was part of life in the ER.****

She just hoped she could make it through the ten hour shift today without**  
**loosing it or breaking down.**  
**She was even more gladder now that Ray would be there, because she knew that if**  
**nothing else she could count on him.**  
**Honestly she had no idea when that had all happened, because at first they could**  
**hardly get along. They were so different but over time things had become a**  
**balance between them.****

~*~*~****

Ray admired Neela's strength and her bravery, cause he knew right now that she**  
**really just wanted to dissolve into tears as the pain of losing Michael was so**  
**strong for her. Gently, he placed a soft kiss upon her forehead, withdrawing**  
**from the embrace.****

"Thanks for the coffee. Gonna take a quick shower and get ready now, then we**  
**can go," he told her, before disappearing into the bathroom. It was going to**  
**be a very long day and he hoped he would make it through it without falling**  
**asleep on his feet.****

After his shower, Ray got dressed and prepared for work. It wasn't long at all**  
**when he joined Neela, ready to go. It was going to be another wild and crazy**  
**day at County General.


End file.
